September 29, 2026 at 9:47 am

He Was Flying a Drone in a Public Park—Then Two Women Called the Police and Claimed He Was “Stalking and Recording Children”

by Matthew Gilligan

man operating a drone

Shutterstock

Well, I guess not everyone likes drones, huh?

If you ask me, drones are pretty amazing, as long as they’re not invading my personal space, which, for the record, has never happened in my entire life.

But enough about me: check out what this guy had to say about a day at the park with his drone that went sideways.

Take a look!

Karen Incident: Trying to forget about it.

“NYC. I took my drone to Central Park.

I have a license and had a permit for the day to fly in the area (you need a permit AND a land/take off permit for $150 for a day and I had both and was cleared to fly in the park).

This was about to get interesting…

I’m flying the drone and a Karen comes over to me, accusing me of being discourteous, says she’s a cop (lie that went unchallenged). Then her other Karen friend who works for the Parks Department comes over, chiming in asking if I have a permit. I do.

I’m not confrontational by nature so I went into this calmly. Then she starts talking about how the drone is loud, annoying, etc.

Well, he wasn’t doing anything illegal…

I said “I have just as much a right to be in this park doing what I’m doing as you do. Im not even going to be here that long.”

She insists that I cease immediately as she is bird watching and the drone is scaring the birds.

I said “had you started with that, this would have been a much more peaceable interaction.”

She then said “yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have said that” but she and her friend (they were like mid to late 40s) kept talking about how I need a quieter drone, etc.

Enough of this!

I grew tired of it all and moved on. As I was walking, this young white dude said to me “dude, no one else what bothered by your drone.”

Every time I walk out the door, something happens. Exhausting. Now I have to try and wipe this stuff from my memory as I tend to dwell on things.

How do you people simply STOP thinking about something untoward that has happened?”

Here’s what folks had to say about this on Reddit.

This person made a good point.

Screenshot 2026 09 03 at 9.38.56 AM He Was Flying a Drone in a Public Park—Then Two Women Called the Police and Claimed He Was Stalking and Recording Children

Another reader weighed in.

Screenshot 2026 09 03 at 9.39.12 AM He Was Flying a Drone in a Public Park—Then Two Women Called the Police and Claimed He Was Stalking and Recording Children

This Reddit user shared their thoughts.

Screenshot 2026 09 03 at 9.39.25 AM He Was Flying a Drone in a Public Park—Then Two Women Called the Police and Claimed He Was Stalking and Recording Children

If you enjoyed this story, check out this postabout a man who installs a fence after his neighbors cut a property line rope and move a canoe.

And another person weighed in.

Screenshot 2026 09 03 at 9.39.42 AM He Was Flying a Drone in a Public Park—Then Two Women Called the Police and Claimed He Was Stalking and Recording Children

Well, these ladies sound like a whole lot of fun, don’t you think?!?!

That, my friends, was sarcasm…

Ugh!

Some people just don’t know how to mind their own business.

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